Two Quarters and a Heart Down

Chapter 25 - Saturday

Patrick's POV

And so the rest of the night is pretty comfortable. Just about everyone's grouped up, exchanging small talk, laughs, occasional kisses. I'll say it's one of the best after parties I've been to. Alright, the only after party I've been to, but it's definitely a memorable first.

There's light music in the background, probably off a playlist Hayley or Tay made. Some pop-punk jams we could all appreciate. The scene is pretty somber compared to the hype of a few hours ago. The games have settled down, no more loud screaming when "a ship becomes canon" or whatever. It's really natural for me, and I feel comfortable and at ease for once, which is surprising since I'm normally not too big on large social events. But this proved to shock me on multiple levels. A few weeks ago before moving, I would never have guessed to meet new friends so quickly, meet someone I instantly had a crush on who also happened to like me back, to meet intriguing personalities, and discover a whole new side of my own personality and interest. Who would've imagined me, introverted Patrick Stump to be making a fool of myself in front of tons of people at a dance party and not even care? To make out with someone as amazing as Pete Wentz, to meet two spunky lesbians, two dudes who love music as much as I do, an enthusiastic gay kid with a forehead to match the size of his heart, and a whole bunch of other great people. It's been a wild ride for sure, but it's all paid off in the end. I can tell I have a lot more in store for the rest of the school year I'll be in at Winona High. And I can only hope it'll be just as great as this single week has been.

***

Several months later

"Well, I think we're getting the hang of this, 'shooting the basket' thing." I say to Pete with a smile. He smiles back, pecking me on the lips with his.

"Yep, it does appear that way."

"Well, let's not stop here, we still have a long way to go. Back and at 'em, boys." Joe says, breaking Pete and I out of the trance we put each other in with our eyes. Funny how often we end up doing that.

"Oh, right, sorry." I say, blushing and returning back to the note stand of pages, now filled with a lot more lyrics and notes than that day back at the dance. We've come so far, I sure hope all this work makes an impact someday. I've stuck with this school, pleased with the teachers, class material, students enrolled, all that. I have some really great friends, and look what it's come to. Pete, Andy, Joe and I actually did go through with forming a band. We don't really have a name yet, or any idea what other stuff we're going to record. We plan on sticking with that "Dance, Dance" song we played at the dance, and we also are gonna try and come up with some tunes for assorted lyrics Pete and I already had written in random notebooks. We practice during free time at school, since there's a really nice music room we can use. We also try out recordings in each other's houses, although the setup and sound quality isn't too ideal. It works for now though. In fact, we're working on one of our new things at my house, in the garage with some speakers and material Hayley managed to get us hooked up to. It's pretty great, doing something we all love to do, and doing it together as best friends.

"So, let's take it again." I say, getting the recording device out for another go-round at the audio recording. "Take 3 on... what are we even calling this?" I say, talking into the recording device, looking at the others for any suggestions.

"Hmm...Saturday." Pete says after a moment of silence. I get looks of approval from Joe and Andy, then nod towards Pete in satisfaction.

"Saturday it is." I return with a small grin, remembering the day of the dance, everything leading up to it was all about "Saturday." Saturday was the day that solidified my friendships with a lot of people, my relationship with Pete, my new interest in actually hanging around other people, some really great things. I guess that's why the lyrics mention "Saturday" so much, so it only seems fitting that's the name of the song. Even if the song lyrics aren't based around those specific events, I love metaphors and this is kind of a metaphor for how great that day was, and putting it into how great other days can be as well.

"Take 3 on Saturday, named by Pete." I speak into the device. Joe starts at the guitar, followed by Andy messing around at the drums and Pete dropping in with the bass. "I'm good to go, and I'm going nowhere fast..." I sing like we had practiced. The moment is so pure, just singing into the late afternoon with my best friends. Who would've thought starting a new school, moving, going through all the ups and downs of change, would eventually lead to this. It's so amazing, I honestly can't even believe it's real.

We keep going, no errors so far, and we come up on my favorite line, one I'll always treasure no matter what happens with this band or this record. It will always have a special place in my heart, I don't think I'll ever forget it.

"Me and Pete, in the wake of Saturday."

Fin.